


fountain, fountain we are the same

by buckybunnyteeth



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, First Meetings, Fluff, Little Mermaid Elements, M/M, mermaid au, mermaid!Cisco
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-10
Updated: 2016-11-10
Packaged: 2018-08-30 05:19:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8520040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/buckybunnyteeth/pseuds/buckybunnyteeth
Summary: Barry’s legs give out somewhere over the Northern Caribbean sea. His sugar low catches up with him causing him to stumble and skip across the water like a poorly thrown stone.orThe Flash AU where everything is the same. Except Cisco is a Mermaid.





	

“I have heard mermaids singing, each to each.  
I do not think that they will sing to me.”  
-T.S Elliot (The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock)

 

Barry’s legs give out somewhere over the Northern Caribbean sea. His sugar low catches up with him causing him to stumble and skip across the water like a poorly thrown stone. He comes to a stop when he collides with a grouping of rocks.

“Urgh,” he groans as he slumps against the rock, his injuries already knitting back together, “Ack.”

He brings up his hand, on the end of a slowly un-spraining wrist, and shoves back his cowl so he can see where he is. Barry groans again when he sees that he isn’t on the outskirts of an island like he had thought, but is in fact in the middle of the ocean. 

“Fantastic.”

He thumps at his collar for his coms, biting off his gloves when he realizes the water as made them useless.

“Iris?” he calls through the communicator, “Iris? Harry? Can anyone hearme?”

All he gets in reply is static. Watery static.

“Fantastic.” He repeats and slumps back down against the rock.

He really had no one to blame but himself. He had been goaded into chasing Zoom across the country and then across the sea. He hadn’t eaten enough and he knew it, but he was so close, was almost as fast as him. Almost being the optimum word.

And now here he is. Collapsed in the middle of the ocean. With no coms, slowly healing broken bones, and no Zoom. He’d lost. Again.

“Maybe I should just stay here like this.”

“I wouldn’t recommend it dude, the bull sharks really like your suit.”

Barry squawks and flails at the unexpected voice, and slips momentarily into the water before a pair of arms push him back up onto the rocks.

“Woah!’ The voice says again, laughing now, “I was kidding about the sharks man. Well, mostly kidding. They really don’t give a crap about us, no matter how red your … costume is.”

Barry splutters up water as the voice- the man who startled him comes into view beside him on the rocks. A beautiful smiling face meets him. 

“I-uh- sharks?” 

The man laughs, smile stretching impossibly wider and brighter. Barry feels a little breathless.

“Yeah man. Maybe you should hop up on the rock? Just in case they mistake you for a dying seal or something.”

Barry nods, still reeling, and moves to pull himself up onto the rock. Barry wonders absently what he did to come across a beautiful man floating in the middle of the ocean. He has never had any kind of luck with beautiful people, so this is really an outlier.

Because there is no debate this man is beautiful. His hair is dark black, curling up on his shoulders, tousled and wild from swimming in the sea. His body is lean but strong looking, and considering he’s shirtless Barry can see quite a percent of it. He has freckles across his cheek bones that look perfect against his tan skin, and his dark brown eyes. Well, Barry has a thing for kind eyes. And though these ones are laughing at his expense, they are so obviously kind is makes Barry’s breathe catch in his throat.

“I, um,” Barry stutters, “What are you doing all the way out here?”

The other man raises his eyebrow, humour still plastered across his face. 

“Dude, I found you floating in the middle of the sea wearing a red leather body suit. I’m meant to ask you that question.”

Barry blushes and looks down. Then he realises ‘oh crap; my secret identity’.

“Oh well, I guess you’ve figured it out.”

“Figured what out?” The man asks, looking genuinely confused. He tilts his head and his hair catches on a fine gold chain around his neck. It has a charm on the end, plastered against the hollow of his throat from the water. It looks like a … fork?

“What do you mean what?” Barry says, confused himself now, “I’m the Flash.”

“Oh,” The man says with a tiny frown, “… is that meant to mean something to me?”

Barry feels his jaw drop.

“The Flash! Hero of Central City? The fastest man alive?!”

“Oh,” the man says, “I’ve never heard of that.”

“What?”

“Never been to Central City either,” the man confesses, laying his head on his crossed arms that sit on the edge of the rock, “You’re a hero?”

“Yeah,” Barry says softly, feeling embarrassed, “I uh, use my powers to save people.”

“Are they magical powers or are they a scientific abnormality?”

“Science powers.”

The man smiles.

“Cool.”

Barry wonders if he accidentally crossed over into another universe. The universe of attractive men who swim in the middle of the ocean.

“I-I’m sorry I don’t even know your name?”

The man smiles again, this time with mischief.

“Are you sure you want to ask that?”

“Uh … yes?”

A light breeze disturbs the curls around his face and for a moment it looks like his eyes flash a different, more metallic colour.

“Cisco,” he says softly, but with a kind of weight, “Well, Francisco but no one calls me that really.”

“Cool. I’m Barry. Barry Allen.”

“I thought you were the Flash?”

“That my superhero name, Barry is my proper name. Secret identity. You’re really not familiar with the whole Superhero thing are you?”

“We don’t get many of them out here, I guess.”

“Oh- W-where are we exactly?”

Cisco gestures over his shoulder, “Puerto Rico is that way,” he then moves and points over Barry’s shoulder, “You came in from that way.”

“Oh, how far away from land are we?”

“A couple hours swim from the nearest island,” Cisco says, absently twirling a strand of his hair around his finger while he up stares at Barry, “Who made your suit?”

“Um, this guy I work with. Hartley. He designed it for firefighters but we decided to use it for … not firefighters.”

“For superheroes.”

“Yes. Or superhero. Just me.”

“It’s untenable.”

“Excuse me?”

“Continued use its going to degrade it so fast, man. You’ll go through like ten a year if you always travel at such high speeds. Thighs will go first.”

Barry’s hand’s unintentionally go down to rub at the seams along his thighs. Cisco’s eyes flick down to follow the movement and his lips quirk, causing Barry to blush.

“How are you going to run back?” Cisco asks, shifting quickly from flirty to thoughtful, “You’d need to build up speed before being able to run on water- surface tension and all that,” he bites his lip in thought, “There’s nowhere to get a run-up out here.”

 

Barry wonders if he’s hallucinating this guy. His is a nerd, a very beautiful nerd, floating in the middle of the ocean. Maybe he fell and smacked his head on the rock and this is all an elaborate hallucination. 

“Doesn’t really matter,” Barry laments, still very much floored by this strange man, “I’ve used up all my energy. I would have to eat something to get my levels up again, and like you said, we are in the middle of the ocean.”

“Sea,” Cisco corrects and smiles again, “Middle of the sea.”

“Same thing, man,” Barry sighs, “Do boats ever come this way?”

Cisco shakes his head with a smile, holds up his finger in the universal ‘wait’ gesture, and disappears below the water in a fluid motion. He disappears into the dark water, ignoring Barry’s squawk of surprise and outstretched hand. They are so far from land, and Barry can’t see Cisco’s boat, so it’s probably not safe for him to be swimming willy-nilly out here.

The silence of the sea is maddening. Barry looks out at its bright blue expanse and shudders. He often thinks that he is glad the things that live in the sea can’t leave the sea, but now being surrounded by water those scary creatures are all he can think about. He nearly jumps out of his skin when a dolphin’s tail breaks the water in the distance, looking a shiny green blue in an awesome trick of the sunlight. Unless it wasn’t a dolphin. Oh god, are there green-blue sharks?

Cisco doesn’t remerge for a long while, and Barry is about to dive in after him, in spite of his exhaustion and very large fear of bull sharks, when Cisco returns. He breaks the surface of the water effortlessly and, damn it, rather sexily. Appealing dramatic hair flip and everything.

He thrusts a cloth bag into Barry’s lap, and balances on the edge of the rock with his arms. He must have amazing upper body strength. And probably lower body strength too, it’s just Barry can’t see that part of him from where he is sitting … slumping. 

“Here,” Cisco grins, enticingly breathless.

Barry frowns and opens up the bag.

“Oh my god.”

It’s a smorgasbord of fruits. Passion fruits, Guavas, Tamarinds, and one really really big Mango, along with a small bowl and a jar of honey with the honeycomb.

Barry digs in to the meal without thinking, not bothering to peel the fruits, just breaking them open with his hands and dragging them through the honey. It’s all so sugary and sweet-sour in that paradoxical way that fruit always is. 

“Oh my god,” Barry moans around a mouthful of Guava and honey, “This is so good, where did you get this?”

“It was my lunch.”

Barry stops mid chew and feels his eyes go comically wide.

“Oh dude,” he groans, “I can’t believe you let me steal your lunch from you!”

Cisco shakes his head, his drying hair curling around his face and shoulders, dropping tiny rivers of water down his skin. 

“You needed it more.”

“Still dude, I totally owe you one.”

The sun out here must be freaky because Barry swears Cisco’s eyes flicker again.

“Alright,” Cisco says almost breathless, “You can owe me.”

Barry grins, sure in the feeling that he has just made a new friend.

They sit together in comfortable silence while Barry finishes the meal. A couple of times Cisco glares out across the water, his head turning sharply like he just heard something. Probably judging where his boat is, or the weather or something.

Barry finishes with a content sigh, the fruit sitting with a heavy comfort in his stomach.

“Better?”

“So so much, Dude.”

Cisco grins.

“Good. Because I’ve got a plan.”

Barry perks up instantly, nearly dislodging himself from the rock.

“Really?!”

Cisco laughs and explains his plan.

“That’s it.”

“Yep.”

“You want me to run in circles, on this rock, until I build up enough speed to run across the water?”

“Yes.”

“But what if the rock degrades into sand before I reach peak speed and-”

“This rock is old as hell, it will survive your mini marathon.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, Barry,” Cisco rolls his eyes, “It will work, I’ve done the calculations in my head. The food has probably given you enough energy to get back to the mainland and contact your friends for help.”

“How do you know I have friends?”

“You seem like the kind of guy who dose.”

Barry smiles goofily. 

“Well, uh, you count as one of them now. One of my friends, I mean.”

Cisco looks down while smiling, obviously bashful.

“I count you as the same.”

The wind ruffles through Cisco’s hair, adding a strange weight to the words. Which Barry isn’t paying any real attention too because all he can think about is how good Cisco looks. Pretty men who swim in the sea and feed him may be a very niche type, but boy is it Barry’s.

“Listen,” he blurts like he’s fifteen again and doesn’t know how to talk to beautiful people, “If you’re ever in Central City you can look me up. I mean I work at CCPD you can just ask for me. Or just find me anywhere I won’t mind. I-I would really like to see you again.”

Cisco smiles, secret and warm, almost playfully teasing. 

“I come out here to eat every full moon,” he says sinking back down to tread water in the sea, the tips of his hair floating in the water in curling ringlets, “You can find me. I would really like to see you again.”

Barry blushes and hopes he’s sunburnt enough that Cisco can’t see it.

“Okay,” he whispers through his grin, “I will.”

“Bye Barry,” Cisco whispers back as he begins to wade away from the rock so he won’t get hurt by Barry’s speed.

“Bye Cisco.”

For a moment they just smile at each other, like this is a romcom and they are the protagonists. Then Barry stands up, rights his costume, and gives one final wave to Cisco before beginning the plan.

The last thing he sees of the other man is a black and tan streak as he shoots off across the water towards home.

As soon as he sets foot on land he feels an instant longing to return to the sea.

Iris is going to eat this all up. 

He speeds for home, the image of the strange mans smile playing over and over again in his mind.

 

…

 

Cisco watches Barry leave with a sigh. He leans against the rock where they ate together and traces the bumpy lines of sediment dreamily. He’s got it bad. Should have known better but curiosity has always been his down fall. 

He hears a noise behind him and brings his tail up to thump the surface, a clear indication that it is safe to approach.

Dante breaks the surface noisily, throwing himself up onto the rock dramatically. His blue silver tail sparkles in the sunlight, and his transparent frills for fins seem oh so delicate against the stone. The delicate chain around his neck glistens, holding more charms than Ciscos.

“What were you thinking, Hermano?” Dante laughs as he lounges, “Talking to a fish killer, eating with a fish killer? Mama isn’t going to like this.”

Cisco glares but it quickly slips off his face. He’s too happy.

A human, a handsome adorable human, asked his name. Spoke his name and so willingly put himself in Cisco’s dept. So trustfully. 

He is of the magic world, no matter how much his heart is given to science. It gives him a rush that the human- that Barry, made a deal with him. No matter how small. It pools warmly in his belly and keeps the smile on his face.

He flips his tail up, watching the blue green scales with their golden patches glide through the waves while a tune, a song beads up in his throat and comes out in a hum.

Dante freezes, going ridged as his face shows shock.

“No,” he says sharply, “No, Mijo, No! You can’t!”

“You can’t.”

Dante jumps at Armando’s sudden appearance behind him. His eldest brother glides over smoothly, purple red tail moving with shark like grace behind him. The gold is missing from his scales, replaced by white jagged slashes that carry a pain beyond the physical for them all. His chain is a leather cord and it holds a sickle charm. He’s wearing his vest, the one that Cisco wove for him. Today is not a good day.

Armando places a hand on Cisco’s shoulder, firm and absolute. And even that does not break his smile.

“The people from land are dangerous, Cisco, you cannot risk your life because a pretty one happened to spot you.”

“He asked my name.”

Both his brothers go ridged with shock.

“Willingly?” Dante asks, voice shaking.

Cisco hums.

“I don’t think he knew what I was,” he sighs again, stretching his fingers and the tingle from where they touched Barry’s, “He thought I was a fisherman. He thought I was one of his kind.”

“Dios,” Armando breathes.

Before any of them can say anything else the water ripples and a wave of sound bounces around them.

“We have to go back,” Dante announces, uncharacteristically serious, “We need to keep this between ourselves. Mama cannot know, okay?”

Armando nods and disappears below the water, scouting ahead to make sure the way is clear.

“And Paco?”

Cisco hums.

“Wipe that damn smile off your face. You look like you’re in love.”

Cisco just hums again and doesn’t resist when Dante pulls him all the way home by his tail.

**Author's Note:**

> This is dedicated to Fern aka secretly-a-dragon, and girl-number-3-belcher over on tumblr. they encouraged me to disregard my other fics to write this fluff indulgent fic. and i love them for it.
> 
> kind of left it over to a sequel or expansion so stay tuned!
> 
> (will edit later my computer is crashing aaaah!)


End file.
